Jimmy's Food Store ~ Dallas, Texas

Today's post comes courtesy of Mr. Music. He asked that I post this on his behalf. Before we get to that, just a quick note that Mrs. RJG and I love to go to Jimmy's and buy homemade Italian sausage. We usually get 6 pounds, 3 of the sweet/mild and 3 of the spicy. That'll usually last us a few months. We have yet to try their deli for a meal though. Obviously, after reading Mr. Music's description below, we need to consider that pronto. Though it's tough to be that far down in Dallas and not go to Pietro's...

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Last Saturday Mrs. Music and I took the kids for a ride to Jimmy’s Food Store. From Denton, it is quite a ride to East Dallas, but it was a nice day and I had not been in that neighborhood for awhile. I’ve been to restaurants all around Bryan and Fitzhugh and have heard about Jimmy’s for years, but for some reason never made it down there. I finally made a solid decision after recently falling in love with their homemade sausage on a pizza at ll Cane Rosso (my next review for RJG)! Mr. RJG told me he went to Jimmy's recently and stocked up on some homemade sausage so I decided to follow suit. Mrs. Music and I decided to make it a lunch/shopping trip, so we wandered around the store for a few minutes and gazed at all the great goodies before heading to the meat market at the back of the store. When we got back to the counter, we met Eric, who works there and assisted us with all sorts of great info. The menu has about 15 sandwiches on it and are listed on a large white poster board with photos of most of them. It was tough making a decision. They had homemade sausage and homemade meatball subs, but I passed since that is what we were going to take home! They had a Cuban, a muffalata, roast pork with broccoli rabe and provolone, chicken with roasted peppers and mozzarella, a few different cold cut subs and a tuna sandwich. Mrs. Music went for the Prosciutto Panino which had prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, basil and olive oil on a roll. I really wanted to try one of everything, but decided this time I had to go for the tuna! Tuna, you say? This is not your average tuna. No, it is tuna with extra virgin olive oil, capers, artichoke hearts, black olive spread and hot peppers! It sounded so unusual, I had to try it! My next choice was the roast pork with broccoli rabe - perhaps next time! Eric advised us that the sandwiches were very big so we left it at that. He also mentioned that we could get a bottle of wine, or beer, or other drinks in the grocery section - and settle down in one of the two seating areas and enjoy our food. In the front of the store is a small area facing the window of the store with about 5 small tables. And behind the meat market is a large room with a dozen or more tables where they also host wine tasting events. We decided to sit in front with the counter on one side, and a view of Bryan on the other. One thing I was a little worried about was the bread; the pictures sort of made the bread look a bit generic, but when we unwrapped our monstrous sandwiches, I was very pleasantly surprised. The muffaletta shaped rolls must have been home baked and were the size of small islands! One bite and it was over! The bread was delicious with a thin crispy crust and a soft, fresh middle. The tuna and all the fixings were sublime! The light tuna with buttery olive oil contrasted beautifully with the tangy capers, olives and pickled peppers and the artichokes just made it better! Huge as it was, I ate every crumb. Mrs. Music’s sandwich tasted as lovely as it looked and sounded. She was stuffed after forcing her 3rd quarter down and I could not help gorging on her last piece. The dense flavor of the chewy cured ham married with the delicate mozzarella, the refreshing flavor of the basil, fresh tomato and pungent olive oil made my taste buds sing! Oh, did I mention these amazing sandwiches were just $6.99 and $7.50? After a couple glasses of wine and our meals, we picked up a few pounds of homemade meatballs, hot Italian sausage and mild Italian sausage to bring home and freeze. The sausage was awesome with some pasta and sautéed veggies. My only regret is buying so much to take home; how will I survive until I need to go back for more? I'm already dying to go again!

- Mr. Music

Hopdoddy Burger Bar ~ regional chain : Dallas, Texas

Apr 1, 2022 update: Pretty amazed we never did get back here. The Preston Center location was the first to the DFW market (still open), and admittedly was too far for a quick visit. However they were just about to open a location in Southlake - and then we moved back to Colorado. And surprisingly that location didn't make it. What's going on in Southlake? Everything seems to have closed (just noticed Five Guys as well). For my former location, they did open also in Euless, so that would have been convenient too. For us, they have 2 locations in Denver, so I might stop in during a day of record shopping while up north. Total, the chain exists in Texas (22); Arizona (2); Colorado (2); Tennessee (2); and California (4).

First visit: Jan 2013 (Dallas - Preston Center)

Many of you will probably remember my series on Keller Goes Burgers and Beer last January and February. In the timespan of a month, downtown Keller ended up with four new establishments cashing in on this concept. Namely: Yourway, Keller Tavern, Bronson's, and Bottlecap Alley. We liked the burgers at all four places, and while the beer selection was certainly better than average, they all could have used improvement in this area. I recall having a distinct conversation with the bartender at Yourway promising new beers would be introduced regularly. About two weeks ago, I snuck into Yourway and took a look at their taps. Nothing has changed in one year. Now to be fair, none of them claimed to be fully stocked beer bars (like Ginger Man does), and I thought they did a fine job on their core product, which is the hamburger. But...

...but if I were owning one of these fine restaurants, I would start looking over my shoulder at what's coming on the horizon, and perhaps get ahead of the curve. You don't have to beat all the competition, just the local ones. There's an old story/joke that gets passed around in leadership/management training, that no doubt some of you have heard. So the story goes that there's two guys camping in a tent deep in a National Forest. In the middle of the night, into the tent comes a black bear for a night of snacking - preferably on the campers themselves. One guy starts freaking out, and screams "What should we do?". The other camper, meanwhile, calmly puts on his sneakers. The first person gasps "You can't out run the bear!" And he replied "Yes, that's true, but I can out run you".

And the bear in this story are the new generation of burger and beer places. In December, we visited Rodeo Goat, one of our most popular entries, and a restaurant that is getting serious attention over at Urbanspoon - and has been rated in the Top 10 of all places in DFW for the last two months. And now we have those Austin black bears sniffing around our good town with their own creation: Hopdoddy Burger Bar. And they're not even messing around with the Bud, Bud Light, Michelob, or even Shiner thing. Only "Craft Draft from Local, Small Batch, Artisanal Brewers". Where do I sign up? Who do I need to influence to get one here in Northeast Tarrant (same for Rodeo Goat actually)? Now their website lists some droolworthy beers, but does caution that selection varies by location. That's fair, but I sure hoped they would've "imported" more of those delicious Austin beers. They did bring two along, that we've also seen in places like Flying Saucer - that is (512) and Live Oak. Otherwise they celebrate our local brewers and I'm all for that too! So if you're looking for a place to try Lakewood, Deep Ellum, Franconia and Peticolas, Hopdoddy is a great place to do so. Their website also lists Circle, Thirsty Bear, Austin Beerworks, Ranger Creek (San Antonio beer), and Independence, but I guess for now you'll have to go to Austin to try them. The RJG has managed to try at least one from each of those except Thirsty Bear and Austin Beerworks.

So, RJG, talk about the burger - you lush you! And for those that drink Sprite with their meal, you will be no less excited, as the burgers here are delicious. I tried the Terlingua burger, which is their chili burger (I'm sure you already figured that out). Most chili burgers are a complete mess. And I was prepared for it. Our waitress even asked if I wanted a fork with it, and I said yes. But I didn't need it. They put just enough on, to get the flavor, but not to dominate. The chili is meaty, and they also add in some Fritos to give it the consistency it needs. The burger flavor itself is delicious, with plenty of good seasoning provided in the beef mixture. The overall combination is divine. My old buddy had the Buffalo Bill since he's been on a blue cheese kick of late. He said it was awesome. We each enjoyed a couple of beers with our meal - I had the Peticolas Golden Opportunity and Lakewood Rock Ryder, while he had the latter along with a Franconia Kolsch.

The service is a bit odd. When you walk in, you will be assigned a table on a ticket. You take that ticket to the front counter to order your meal and first round of drinks. Then you find the table that you were assigned. From there on it becomes full table service so if you want more drinks, they attend to that, and bill you separately. Weird idea, though I suppose if you don't get any more to drink (or eat), it adds to the efficiency. And if nothing else, the RJG is proud to make the experience inefficient. As well, it ensures folks don't snag tables until it is their turn.

We arrived early at 11:00 am and had a choice of seating. By 11:30 there was a line out the door. So file that away. As an alternative, especially for solo travelers, is that you can just sit at the bar - if there's room. Hopdoddy is situated in Preston Center, a perfect spot for such a place. I predict it will be here for many years to come, if they stick with their core principles. As for us folks in Northeast Tarrant, it's a destination place, and well worth the 30-45 minute drive.

1/20/13 (new entry)

FasTaco ~

Mar 31, 2022 update: FastTaco is still going strong in the southern reaches of Fort Worth, with 4 locations in Joshua, Cleburne, Burleson, and Crowley. Our former NE Tarrant location closed many years ago.

Last visit: Jan 2013 (North Richland Hills)

First visit: Jan 2012 (North Richland Hills)

Jan 2013 update: A few folks have asked me to reconsider my vote on FasTaco, per my initial request. And since the place seems to be doing a decent business, and they're locally owned, why not give it one more shot? My quick observations are this: The restaurant is very clean, and the owners are incredibly friendly. I thought the taco meat tasted better than prior, and the shells were crispy - and this time they didn't skimp on the cheese! I tried the beefy burrito per recommendation, and though the meat of course was good, I didn't care much for the soft chewy tortilla. The salsas are still a big problem for me. The red is way too plain, and the green - while having enormous potential - is too mild and sour to be to my liking. It's a tomatillo rather than a spicy green. I really wish they'd offer a 3rd sauce, preferably one with more of a kick. End result? I changed my grade from "Didn't Like it" to "Likes it" on Urbanspoon. So that's the good news. The bad news is that it just barely crosses that threshold, meaning that I didn't get the feeling there was anything I would crave here. And, make no mistake, the RJG loves him some crunchy fast food tacos. Not sure I'll be back again unless I hear of changes. I wouldn't complain, though, if it was suggested.

---Original review

In light of Del Taco opening in the NE Tarrant area, the RJG thought we'd do a quick taco run around the area. We've already covered Taco Casa, and I think it's worth following that link so you can see where the RJG comes from regarding crunchy fast food tacos. We first noticed FasTaco going up on our visit to Malli's and after some quick research, knew it was a place we'd want to try as soon as possible. And that day arrived early in the new year.

For the RJG, a taco place is only as good as its core product: The crunchy ground beef taco (and accompanying hot sauce). So it doesn't matter to me that they might have a killer quesadilla or a chicken burrito if the taco is not up to snuff. If it does make the grade, only then will we dive further into the menu. And so, did it pass? No.

I doubt anyone is more disappointed than we are at drawing this conclusion. I love old fashioned crispy tacos that I can take away in a greasy bag. Especially from a small local chain. But the fact remains that the ground beef at FasTaco has way too little seasoning. It's not a mush-meat classic nor is it finely spiced. They also skimped on the cheese and lettuce. I understand why this happens at Taco Bell - a public company where workers are not incented to do anymore than the bare minimum. But this is a local place - show some pride! The tacos are very small, and at 99 cents a piece, they are a poor value. The salsa bar has two homemade sauces: a tomato based red that tasted a lot like the salsa served at Taco Bueno, and a spicier green which was good, though I wish it had more kick. They also offered up a package sauce that was made by.... Heinz. Euwwww really? C'monnnn.

Conclusion? Worse than Taco Bell. Oh it pains me to say that. I truly wanted this place to rule and to compete with the best of the Kansas taco stands. It's not terrible, and only a borderline thumbs down on Urbanspoon. But all the same, it didn't make the grade for us. Any other taco heads (fast food, not taqueria OK?) out there care to contradict? We'll reconsider if you think we're off base.

1/3/12 (new entry); 1/16/13

Rosa's Cafe & Tortilla Factory ~ Texas chain : Hurst

There are currently 10 locations in the Fort Worth area, including the 2 NE Tarrant stores in Hurst and Watauga. According to Wikipedia (because their Location tab is no bueno) there are 47 locations in Texas, one each in New Mexico and California.

Last visit: Jan 2013 (Hurst)

First visit: sometime in 2003 (Hurst)

Some quick updates here on Rosa's. First off, interesting to note that Taco Villa itself is now in the DFW area (in Benbrook). This is my first revisit since I wrote the below review - almost exactly 4 years ago. I decided to go back because the place seems to be popular still, and maybe I'm just not ordering the right thing? So this time I tried a chicken fajita burrito. What a joke. It was practically the size of a taquito, with a mushy tortilla and tough chicken. Seriously I would've needed 4 of them to fill me up. But I passed on that temptation since quite frankly it wasn't good. At all. The salsa bar is still there, and their chile de arbol sauce remains the only thing I can recommend about Rosa's. Their ground beef tacos mix in potatoes to cheapen the product (I know it's authentic, but authentic doesn't always translate to the best experience). There's only one thing I can say about Rosa's: It's cheap. Cheap. Cheap. That's all it is. I'm done with this place and I vow not to go back unless I hear of significant changes.

---Original review

One of the staples of my diet while attending Texas Tech in Lubbock in the mid 1980s was Taco Villa. They always had more to offer concerning taste and spice than the competing Taco Bell (there was also Taco Mayo, but that's for another day). Bobby Cox opened his first Taco Villa in Odessa in 1968, and built a regional empire of taco stands throughout West Texas and Eastern New Mexico. As the crunchy fast food taco fad eventually subsided, Taco Villa fell on hard times, and eventually lead to a split of the company. Today the original Taco Villa still exists in the Midland-Odessa area as well as Amarillo. The Lubbock franchise is completely separate but about equal in size. I haven't been to either in years, so no idea how one stacks up against the other (they were one company in the 1980s).

All of this leads up to Rosa's Cafe & Tortilla Factory, Bobby Cox's next venture. The company was bought in after the concept had already begun, but it's clear the franchising expertise has been put forth. Whereas Taco Villa competed against Taco Bell, Rosa's Cafe is a direct response to Taco Cabana. That is, the second generation of the fast food Mexican experience.

Truth be told, there's nothing exceptional about Rosa's, except one very critical point - the price. Nowhere else can you get a complete Mexican meal with beans and rice for under $4. Everything here is average, but certainly decent enough, I guess. And one other aspect of the franchise that is to be commended - the salsa bar. While they have the usual array of mild and medium sauces, not too many offer a chile de arbol as a regular item, and it even has a bit of a kick to it.

When we first moved to NE Tarrant at the beginning of 2003, we gave Rosa's a few tries. But this was my first visit in nearly 5 years. Nothing has changed. And the place is still mobbed. So much so, I couldn't grab a table and had to have mine repackaged to-go. Times are hard, but people still like to go out and eat. Given their popularity, one has to conclude that Rosa's provides the right food at the right price. It's a winning combination for the current economy. But it's not a restaurant I'd recommend.

Website isn't working. No doubt they were too cheap to pay the fee.

1/16/09 (new entry); 1/12/13

Lone Star Bar-B-Que ~ Fort Worth, Texas

First visit: Jan 2013

Lone Star Bar-B-Que is seemingly a mix of my last two posts: Barbecue - but near the intersection of Western Center and N. Beach in far north Ft. Worth. We have two of our official nieces (ages 20 and 13) in from Denver today, and so Mrs. RJG took the girls out to clean out our bank account for a day of shopping, thus leaving Mr. RJG on his own for lunch, perhaps the last one until I head over to a loan officer. Seeing that my meeting schedule was wide open, I took advantage of the situation for a completely "new to the RJG" place. And I let Urbanspoon be my guide today. And as a random choice, none other than Lone Star Bar-B-Que popped up. It seemed very popular with prior visitors, and 'cue sounded good, so off I went to points west.

What you first notice about Lone Star Bar-B-Que is this isn't some dive in the hood, or a country shack where a 5 toothed guy named Otis asks "Whadya hav'?". It's actually pretty nice. You could take a young family here and not feel guilty about it. So it's more Spring Creek than... well... Black Diamond.

I went with the 3 meat platter and 2 sides. For this visit, I chose the sliced brisket, pulled pork and sausage. They asked me what kind of sauce I wanted, so I chose the spicy out of a choice of 3. Unfortunately they dumped it right on the meats. My bad... I meant to ask for it separate. Oh well, too late. And for sides I chose macaroni & cheese and corn on the cob. Pretty much my staple "start up package". I stuck with the soda fountain, but they do serve beer, but nothing out of the ordinary. All of this was served with a fluffy dinner roll. I'm set.

The pulled pork absorbed most of the sauce, and that was probably a good thing. It was a bit fatty, and not really that flavorful... below average on the whole. I was already regretting not getting the pork ribs, which I will insist going forward to be an essential part of my original tasting. The sliced brisket was very good, though not overly distinctive. It was tender with a nice smoked flavor. The sausage, on the other hand, was delicious. I loved the flavor and texture. Just the right amount of spices. As for the sides, the mac & cheese was also excellent (hey, that's two in a row for me!) with a nice gooey cheese taste. The corn was... well, it was corn. I need to at least pretend to eat something healthy.

Will I be back? You betcha! I want to try the pork ribs (as recommended by the manager) as well as the chicken, turkey and.... yep Bologna! I'll be certain to bring Mrs. RJG as well. It's OK - it's safe!

Last visit: Jan 2013

3 Parrots Taco Shop ~ Fort Worth, Texas

The location I wrote about below is gone, but they still exist by Eagle Mountain Lake as well as Benbrook. Mr. Music has a well established review already there for that location, so we'll leave it.

First visit: Dec 2012

And this will be our final restaurant to report on from 2012. And while on that topic, I'm going to attempt to keep up throughout 2013 (ohhh... I've heard that before!), something I've failed to do since I started this blog in 2008. So I needed a solution to this dilemma, as I know my schedule will not always allow for blogging. After some thought, one way to keep up is to update posts as I go, rather than get plowed under from a mountain of paperwork. And with that in mind, I plan on doing updates to each former post, on their original post date. This way I can clean the site up as I go - very slowly. So how do I accomplish such a feat? By adding a tag/label. If you want to keep up where the RJG goes to eat, then click on the 2013 update label that you see on the right column. And then of course there will be new additions as we continue to try new restaurants, and/or revisit places that for one reason or another I've never written about here on Regular Joe's Guide.

With that administration out of the way, let's talk about today's restaurant: 3 Parrots Taco Shop. This was a recommendation from regular reader and fellow blogger Cowboy Junkie. So Mrs. RJG and I headed west to check out the latest Taco Shop. The RJG loves these kind of high end taco places, so if we hear about a place, it's usually an easy choice for a quick visit (and yes we've been to Don Taco too. I need one more visit before it gets into the RJG).

To make this easy for you all, I will summarize quickly: 3 Parrots is a carbon copy of Fuzzy's Taco Shop. The only difference is that their tacos are larger, and only slightly more pricey, thus making them a good bargain. Otherwise, we are talking a step by step re-creation. Beach bum aesthetic? Check. Full bar with frozen margaritas? Check. A full range of tacos? Check. A habanero sauce option? Check. Taco sauce on the table in a glass container with a fun label on it? Check. Televisions with sports? Check. Surfboards on the wall? Check. Whatever else you just thought of about Fuzzy's? Check.

If you're going to copy someone, you could do worse than Fuzzy's. And while imitation is the greatest form of flattery, I imagine that Fuzzy's may be looking, or have already looked, at legal options here. It's a bit too close for comfort if you ask me.

On the plus side, their tacos are bigger, and maybe... just maybe, a little better than Fuzzy's. They are similar to Fuzzy's no doubt, but perhaps I'm getting more of the flavor because there is... more of it. And 3 tacos will fill you up. In fact, 2 may be enough. I definitely need 3 at Fuzzy's - sometimes 4. On the down side, the frozen margarita's are not very good. They lack tequila, and are pretty sour. I'll get a beer next time.

I've already read on Urbanspoon a prediction that these guys will close quick, since no one is being fooled by the Fuzzy's-in-disguise act. And they may be right, I dunno. But I can't possibly say it isn't good. That would be the same thing as saying we don't like Fuzzy's. And we do like Fuzzy's! We'll keep an eye out on this one.

My advice to 3 Parrots is to get a more distinctive concept and food variation out there - and quick. Before it's too late.

1/3/13 (new entry)

Black Diamond Smokehouse ~ North Richland Hills, Texas ***CLOSED***

First visit: Dec 2012

And now we finally get to the end of the RJG Restaurant week ('bout time!). Well... actually we closed it out on the weekend, appropriately enough, with our bi-annual visit to the RJG's all-time favorite restaurant Pietro's.

I'm usually a bit reticent to write about barbecue, since there are many proclaimed (and self-proclaimed) experts on the topic roaming around the blogosphere here in DFW and environs. One of the blogs that we have linked to the right of what you're reading here is actually a published author on the topic (Full Custom Gospel), from no less an authority than Anthony Bourdain. And barbecue has never been my specialty, so what do I know right? And besides, Full Custom hasn't written about this yet, so maybe I can sneak one in...

Whatever my street cred may or may not be, I can honestly assess what I personally enjoy. And after one visit, Black Diamond skyrocketed to the top of my barbecue list. I'll need a few more visits before I can declare it "my favorite" and all that kind of hoopla, but suffice to say Mrs. RJG and I quite enjoyed our first acquaintance with Black Diamond, to which I expect there will be many more. Over time, I also plan to visit some of the more acclaimed BBQ establishments so I can lay a proper foundation for comparison. I think I'm honing in on what I want from a barbecue place, and cannot wait to embark on the journey. Whether Mrs. RJG joins me is another story. She has a tendency, when I suggest going for BBQ, to simply state "it's too much meat". Sigh.

But for this visit, she was game. Mrs. RJG went for a loaded baked potato with chopped brisket. I may have helped her a bit, and we both thought it was great. I went in for a 3 meat platter. They were running out of pulled pork, one of my test dishes, so I settled in on sliced brisket, jalapeno cheese sausage, and something you don't see everywhere: Bologna. Of the staples, the brisket had that wonderful smoky taste. The sausage was the biggest hit with the Mrs. and I. What a great flavor, with a little kick as well. And the bologna was sublime. It's probably not something I would choose on a regular basis, but I really did enjoy it! I'm anxious to try some of their other meats on the next visit. We also sampled both of their sauces, one hot and one standard. Both were excellent, though honestly the meats don't require much help. I'm also trying to focus more on the "sides". I went with the macaroni & cheese, as well as corn on the cob. Both were great, but especially the mac & cheese. That's something that many places completely mess up, and it ends up as some gooey cold mess. But at Black Diamond, it was creamy, tasteful, and at the correct hot temperature. The corn too was excellent, each kernel coming off cleanly.

Black Diamond, for us anyway, is pretty far south and it's surprising that it actually sits in North Richland Hills. Black Diamond can be found just north of Hwy 26 (on Rufe Snow), near the border of Richland Hills.

The restaurant is a good sized place, and it features a full bar. Just walk in, head to your right, order up some meats and sides, grab a table and you're all set! There's long picnic table style seating as well as a few individual tables.

1/2/13 (new entry)